It's hard to characterize this concert succinctly, because in addition to unveiling the third prize winner in the ensemble's composition contest, there was also a world premiere and a quasi premiere. Bear with us. Read more »

"The Saxophone Quartet was written for the Amherst Sax Quartet after a number of performances of Storms, ('86 for sax quartet and string quartet), and was finished on February 3rd, 1991. It was premiered the next January, (the day the Bills lost the Super Bowl). In writing this piece I had to struggle from falling into the string quartet mannerisms that I had absorbed from years of string writing. Probably the most important thing I had to concentrate on was maintaining the tenor and the baritone as BREATHING lines. Read more »

MICHAEL SAHL was born in Boston in 1934 and began to play and make up little pieces around the age of five. He began serious musical training when he was eight with teachers including Louise Talma and Israel Citkowitz. By college he had developed an interest in modern music, studying at Tanglewood and receiving his MFA from Princeton. He then went to Europe on a Fulbright Scholarship to study and compose 'modern music'. Sahl writes: "But i. was not to be. Read more »